Antitrust at the Agencies: Vacaturs and Vacancies Edition
Gail Slater has left the building. And that’s a shame, I think.
On Feb. 12, Slater posted the following on X:
It is with great sadness and abiding hope that I leave my role as AAG for Antitrust today. It was indeed the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role. Huge thanks to all who supported me this past year, most especially the men and women of @justiceatr
That was a short tenure. The Senate had confirmed her only 11 months earlier. Some reports said she resigned or “stepped down” (here and here). Others suggested she had been fired (here and here).
If you want inside details, you’ll have to look elsewhere. I don’t have them. But tension between the Antitrust Division and U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) leadership has been public since at least late July 2025, when reports said two senior division officials—Roger Alford and Bill Rinner—had “been fired for insubordination,” and not by Slater (see here and here).